The last years of the Qing Dynasty are a tragic memory in our history, and a hundred years of humiliation have caused China a lot of losses. In the face of the invaders of various countries, the corruption of the Qing Dynasty made the people see no hope. Although the Qing Dynasty also adopted a series of rebellions, the final result was unbearable, either cutting off the land or paying compensation, so that the people of all China suffered for it.
Then many people may wonder why they were so brave during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, and a large number of famous generals emerged. But in the face of foreign invaders, the Qing Dynasty did not even take a shot? Don't even dare to resist? What is the cause of this phenomenon?
In 1852, Zeng Guofan, who was guarding the system at home with the title of Erpin Shilang, responded to the call of the Qing court in his hometown in Hunan and established Xiangyong to resist the Taiping Army. Zeng Guofan drew on the successful experience of the Yue Family Army and the Qi Family Army in history, raised soldiers with high salaries, recruited ordinary people who were hard-working and hard-working, trained strictly, and clearly distinguished rewards and punishments, creating a tough and strong team.
After several years, the Xiang army, under the leadership of Zeng Guofan, finally became the mainstay of resistance to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It became a life-saving straw for the Qing Dynasty.
Zeng Guofan also relied heavily on the court, ju Yipin, worshiped the viceroy of Liangjiang, controlled the military affairs of the four provinces, and exerted power over the world. In 1864, the Xiang Army conquered And restored Jinling, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom collapsed.
The Xiang Army, it can be said that this is a force that must not be ignored in China's modern history, when the dynasty's civil strife, wolf smoke everywhere, the building will fall, and the Eight Banners Green Camp is useless, the Xiang Army turned the tide, saved the Qing Dynasty, and became the backing of "Tongguang Zhongxing".
The Xiang Army is mighty! The Xiang Army is fierce!
Such a brave Xiang army, but still can't stop the invasion of the great powers?
The Qing Dynasty pursued the strategy of external demand and rong
The weakness and incompetence of the Qing government were vividly expressed in the policies he implemented, and he did not dare to tear his face with the great powers and could only comply with the unreasonable demands of the powers and sign one unequal treaty after another, and China has since been regarded as a soft persimmon by foreigners.
In fact, the Qing government at that time was not without fierce generals, at that time there were 450 million people in a large country, how could there be no generals who could recruit good warriors. The reason why it showed that no one was available was that the Qing government did not want to resist at all, and these capable generals were useless.
The general reason is because of the Qing government's external demand and rongzhi policy, which thought that giving them some benefits would allow them to continue their stable and peaceful days, but they miscalculated that the enemies were all unfamiliar white-eyed wolves, and their greed was endless, resulting in China being bullied for a hundred years!
The nature of the battle is different
The battle between the Qing Dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was a battle to seize the world, a critical moment of life and death, and there was no way back. The battle between the Qing Dynasty and the great powers was a battle between interests, coupled with the weakness and incompetence of the Qing government, the battle was delayed.
Therefore, when the Qing government and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom confronted each other, they always encouraged Xiangjun to fight the Taiping Army to the end no matter what, so the Qing Dynasty fought a civil war with great pleasure, and in the foreign war, the Qing government was too corrupt, too incompetent, had peace illusions, and did not dare to compete with the enemy who bullied itself, and the result was always demanded by the great powers for no reason.
In the later period, the country has been bullied and has no ability to fight back, there is no united front within the Qing government, and opium is prevalent throughout China, and Chinese controlled by opium, which is the sadness of the whole of China!
Strength is a world of difference
The equipment of the Taiping Army was not much different from that of the Xiangjun of the Qing Dynasty, but the weapons of the great powers were extraordinary, and the Xiang Army was greatly backward in weapons and equipment, and it was in a passive situation in tactics. What we do know is that the Xiang Army and the Taiping Army fought not only to use their own powerful water division strength but also to have the famous turtle shell tactics.
It can be said that the key to the Xiang Army being able to defeat the million Taiping Army in jiangnan water towns is to grasp the power of river control and come and go freely! However, in the face of the sea powers such as Britain and France, the marine division of the Xiang Army was inevitably too weak and could be killed directly! After Anqing was breached, Hu Linyi returned to the Wuchang base camp. One day, Hu Linyi ascended to the far side of the river, and suddenly, a British civilian ship sped by, and the waves set off instantly overturned the warships of the Xiang Army's marine division, and a group of sailors screamed in the river! Hu Linyi saw this scene, directly vomited blood, and died soon after!
Modern wars are by no means won by some so-called numbers, and wars require brains and weapons, and the era of cold weapons has passed. Although the Xiang Army was fierce, it was still essentially an old-style army (feudal army), which had obvious advantages over the Taiping Army, the Eight Banners, the Green Battalion, the Agubai Bandit Gang, etc.; but it was still far from the real modern army, and it was impossible to compete with it!
Summarizing the above three points, the reason why the Xiang army was hanged and beaten by the great powers was that the Qing government did not want to resist at all, and the temporary anger of resistance could only be self-inflicted humiliation. Then there are the Qing army that dare not engage in a long-term battle with the enemy, the lack of generals, and the lack of wise leaders to lead. Then there is the fact that the weapons and equipment are too backward, and the role of the man-sea tactics is minimal.
These three reasons are important factors in China's oppression for a hundred years, and it was not until later that the Qing government was overthrown and new ideas poured into China, and China had a new hope of standing up! Although now Chinese stand up, the national shame cannot be forgotten, this is a pain that can never be forgotten!